The present invention relates to portable building structures suitable for shelter or secure storage that can be assembled without the use of tools or nails, screws and the like to form a rigid structure and that can be readily dismantled.
Portable building structures that can be readily assembled and dismantled are generally referred to as "knock down structures." These structures are used as temporary enclosures to shelter the user while hunting or fishing, for example, or as vacation cabins and recreational shelters for the home. A particular problem with "knock down structures" is providing a sufficiently rigid structure that can resist high winds and inclement weather while retaining its characteristic of being easily assembled and dismantled. In the prior art structures, rigidity has been increased by providing structural frame members having metallic joint supports, dowel pin connectors and interlocking slots or by fixedly attaching structure support posts to the ground or concrete slab upon which the structure is assembled. The limitations of a knock down structure that is fixedly attached on site to the supporting ground or slab can be readily understood. Portable building structures that utilize metallic joint supports and dowel pins to increase rigidity generally require the use of tools and a large plurality of such supports and pins to assure the construction of a knock down structure that will resist high winds and inclement weather. Thus there remains a need for a knock down building structure of sufficient rigidity to resist adverse environmental elements that can be readily assembled and dismantled without the use of tools and fastener means.